People with blue eyes have the potentials of becoming alcoholics, a study suggests.
A team of geneticists at the University of Vermont found that eye color could foretell whether an individual could develop alcoholism or not, or even predict other psychiatric disorders.
The team gathered the genetic profile of over 10,000 individuals of mostly black or European Americans, each diagnosed of at least one mental illness that ranged from depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and alcohol or dependence.
"These are complex disorders," Li said in a press release. Aside from genetic causes, environmental factors were also cited as determinant to alcoholism and mental disorders.
The study scrutinized genetic samples of 1,263 individuals who were alcohol-dependent. They found that those with lighter eyes, particularly blue eyes, are more likely to become alcoholic than those with darker eyes.
"This suggests an intriguing possibility -- that eye color can be useful in the clinic for alcohol dependence diagnosis," study co-author Arvis Sulovari, a doctorate student in cellular, molecular and biomedical sciences at the University of Vermont said.
The researchers were, however, are not sure if their findings would be sufficient enough to help prevent or stop alcoholism among those with lighter eye colors. Nevertheless, having an idea that genetics has a link in alcoholism would help doctors identify if people are at risk of this and other psychological disorders.
"That would be our long-term [goal], that it could be applied to the clinic," Li said in an interview with ABC News today. That, however, still requires more work.
"For me as a scientist, there is still a long way to go," Li continued
Jehannine Austin, psychiatric disorder guru for the National Society of Genetic Counselors, seconded the researchers and explained that understanding potential human genetic links good help experts in determining risk factors and work with the patients to prevent the condition from developing or worsening.
The study was published at the American Journal of Medical Genetics.
